


Echoes of the Void

by JamesKeller



Series: Dueling Orders [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Video Games), Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Angst, F/F, F/M, Force Visions, Genocide, Jedi, Lightsaber Battles, Lightsabers, Mandalorian Wars, Pre-Canon, Pre-Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Prophetic Visions, Psychological Trauma, Redemption, Revenge, Sith Empire, Space Opera, Thriller, Trauma, Visions, Visions in dreams, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26841028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamesKeller/pseuds/JamesKeller
Summary: (My own personal canon)At the height of the Mandalorian War, a mysterious new Sith Master has emerged from beyond the outer rim to conquer the galaxy. At the head of the Sith Master's fleet is former Jedi and new Sith-Apprentice, Darth Marrick. While the Republic desperately tries to negotiate a truce with the Mandalorians to fight back against the invaders, the Jedi-Council has instructed Marrick's former teacher, Jedi Master Jarvus, to assemble a team to confront Marrick and discover the identity of his new master before it's too late for the republic.
Series: Dueling Orders [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957903
Comments: 1





	1. A Test of Strength

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for checking this out. This story started life as a KOTOR fanfic but I ended up taking such liberties with the characters and universe I decided to just create my own characters and canon for it. I hope you enjoy.

A long time ago,

In a Galaxy far, far, away...

STAR WARS

DUELING ORDERS

Episode 1:

Echoes of the Void

_It is a time of conflict. The Galactic Republic has fallen under siege from the powerful Mandalorian Dominion. Outmatched and struggling to quickly build up its forces, the Galactic Senate has called on the Jedi Order to aid the Republic._

_Initially hesitant to mobilize its order for war, the Jedi High Council ultimately permitted Knights to aid the Republic on a volunteer basis. A group of Jedi Knights organized by the charismatic Junius Raynar became an elite force within the Republic forces, resulting in a turning of the tide against the Mandalorians. General Raynar and his men quickly became heroes of legend across the galaxy until the High Council’s fear came true._

_During the Brutal Battle on the planet Magroria, one of Raynar’s best friends, Marrick Blakstone discovered a connection to the darkside of the force on the battlefield. While the Republic was ultimately victorious, Marick’s conduct during and after the battle alarmed his fellow knights. When confronted by Raynar, Marick quickly turned against his friend, slaughtered his fellow knights, and fled._

_And now, with Raynar missing and the Mandalorians regaining their advantage, The Republic desperately seeks their famed general while the Council dispatched 6 powerful Jedi Masters beyond the Outer Rim to bring Marrick to justice….._

......The Stars seemed dimmer somehow, near the edge of the void. Outer space always seemed like a cold, desolate place to Lyna but this was different. There was an emptiness to this region beyond the outer rim the likes of which she hadn’t seen anywhere else. It was hard for her to believe that she was now standing on the deck of a Republic Cruiser staring out at it. She had never actually travelled beyond the core worlds before and now here she was.

“Anything on the sensors?” The ship’s captain asked the helmsman.

“We are detecting the locator beacon of Blakstone’s Jedi Fighter.” The officer answered.

“Is there anything else?”

“There are echoes, sir.”

“Echoes?” Master Jende, A green Twi’Lek Jedi, asked. “What echoes?”

Lyna turned and saw the 6 Masters huddled around the holographic command module with the captain. They were surrounded with several Republic Commandos, one of which answered. “Radio signals travel for a long time in space. Bouncing off planets, moons, and asteroids. They degrade quickly but remain detectable for some time. If there are echoes-”

“-Then somebody else was out here.” Master Jarvis finished.

“Any indication that they are still here?” The Captain asked the Helmsmen.

“We aren’t detecting any other fresh signals. I think they’ve moved on.”

“Or they’re well hidden.” The captain turned to Master Jarvis. “Should we scout the system?”

Jarvis shook his head. “We don’t know how long Marrick has been in this system or how long he will remain. We need to move in while we have his position.”

“Very well.” The Captain turned back to the command module and grabbed the intercom. “All hands, battle stations. Be alert for potential enemy contact.”

The captain put down the intercom and ordered to the helmsman. “Set the course for the planet and prepare to enter orbit.”

Lyna walked over while the Captain gave more commands. Jende nodded. “You enjoying the sight, Padawan?”

“It is interesting, Master Jende.”

“That it certainly is.” Jende looked at Master Jarvis. “It’s not like you to be impatient, Jarvis.”

“This is an urgent situation.” Jarvis and Jende had been friends for nearly as long as Lyna, herself, had been alive. The two men came to the Jedi Order together as younglings, learning in the same class before going off with their separate masters. Jende volunteered for this mission specifically to give Master Jarvis support.

“Whatever happened on that battlefield had nothing to do with you, Jarvis.”

“It has everything to do with me.” Jarvis quickly shot back.

“I’m just saying-”

“Can we discuss this when it’s done?”

Jende conceded. “Of course.”

Jarvis looked to Lyna. “Go down to the transport. We shall be disembarking soon.”

“Of course, Master.” Lyna left the bridge, nodding to the other masters as she did. Jende was right, Lyna had never seen her master like this. He was always so measured in his actions, longing to discuss the situation at hand. It was distressing to see him so shut down and quick to end conversation. Lyna understood it, of course. Marrick was his Padawan before her.

Lyna was there when he was told. Lyna had never met Marrick, he had left for the war when she had been chosen to be Jarvis’ new Padawan just over a year earlier shortly before her 13th birthday. She was overjoyed when he chose her, she had become concerned that she wouldn’t receive a Master and be sent to the agri-corps to cultivate crops for the colony. She was lucky to get Master Jarvis, he was well respected among the Jedi Order and he had trained Marrick Blakstone. One of valiant Knights defending the Republic from the Mandalorian threat, she was so excited.

Jarvis spoke fondly of Marrick quite often whenever Lyna asked about him. And Lyna had asked about him that very day, in fact. When the head of their Jedi Temple had come in to give Jarvis the news. The look on his face was heartbreaking, Lyna was sure she would never forget it.

She reached the transport where several republic commandos were prepping their armor and weaponry. They took notice to the young padawan stepping onto the transport shuttle. She heard one of them say to the others. “Who brings a youngling to a mission like this.”

It certainly was surprising that Master Jarvis elected to bring Lyna along on this mission. None of the other masters had brought their padawans, the mission was seen as too dangerous. Marrick had already killed more than a dozen knights when he turned. The High Council on Coruscant would’ve sent more than just 6 masters to deal with him had there been time, but they couldn’t risk the trail going cold. The Republic fleet had tracked Marrick to this sector but could go no further and, by luck, his ship was still in the system with its beacon running. They had to move quickly. The only reason Lyna could figure as to why her master had brought her along is that he had felt it was important for her to watch as her teacher confronted his failures.

Lyna strapped herself in as the commandos all made their way onto the transport soon followed by Jarvis and the other Jedi Masters. Jarvis was human like Lyna, he had brown skin covered with his grey beard and hair. He had been with the Jedi Order for many years, but he had only had a handful of padawan learners.

“While I of course respect the abilities of 6 Jedi Masters to deal with one of their own.” One of the Republic Officers said. “Given the echoes, the captain feels it would best if two full squads accompany you on the ground to deal with any other issues.”

“Your help is appreciated.” Master Jende replied as he took his seat next to Master Jarvis. “But leave Blakstone to us.”

“With pleasure.”

With Everyone now seated, the rear hatch closed up and the engine of the Transport fired. Lyna shuddered as she felt to ship take off, she never cared much for flying. There was a nervous tension in the air as the transport shuttle entered the planet’s atmosphere with a rumble. Lyna clenched her seat as the ship until the turbulence had passed. The ship’s pilot reported back, “There is a clearing not far from the beacon.”

“Very Well,” The Major yelled back. “Put her down. Commandos, prepare for egress!”

All the Republic Commandos stood up with their blasters in hand as the rear hatch opened up and folded down. The commandos dropped down to the ground took a defensive formation while the shuttle landed. Lyna and the Masters all stood up and walked off the shuttle. Jarvis looked to Lyna. “Stay by me, Padawan.”

“Yes, Master.” She said as her feet left the hard surface of the shuttle and touched the soft grass of the planet. It was dark, very dark. “Is it night?”

“No.” Master Jende answered. “This planet revolves around a blue dwarf.”

Lyna’s eyes adjusted to the planet and she saw that it was, in fact daytime. The blue sun stood at the center of the sky, shining like a small moon. Giving the surface a light blue lumination. The forest was surprisingly thick, planets surrounding dwarf stars typically had light vegetation but these weren’t normal trees. It was difficult to see in the sun’s dim lighting but these trees seemed to have a purple tint to their leaves. What a strange planet this seemed to be.

  
The Commandos maintained a perimeter while they made their way into the forest towards the location of Marrick’s Jedi Fighter. There was a stillness to the forest that was unnerving. A chill in the air that Lyna felt in her spine. And everything was so quiet.

It didn’t take too long for the fighter to come into sight. It became pretty clear pretty quickly that Marrick didn’t have a smooth landing. He didn’t crash exactly because there would be more damage to the fighter itself, but the limbs of the trees above were broken off and scattered across the ground which was disturbed by Marrick apparently not extending the landing gear.

“Why didn’t he land in the clearing?” The Republic Major asked.

“He wasn’t in his right mind.” Jarvis answered as he stepped up the wing of the fighter and saw the cockpit stained with blood. The Master placed his hand upon the glass of the cockpit and closed his eyes for a moment. “He was still in shock when he arrived here. Yet to regain control of the madness that overtook him on Magroria”

“He could still be unstable.” One of the other human masters warned.

“There is a strong possibility.” Jarvis agreed while stepping back down from the fighter. “But the more urgent issue at the moment is where he went from here.”

“The sensors detected a structure not far from here.” The Major chimed in. “A pyramid of some sort to the south.”

The group left the fighter and moved south through the wilderness. A wilderness that was so distressingly quiet. Far too quiet. Lyna stopped and listened carefully for something, anything.

“Something wrong, Lyna?” Master Jende asked, prompting the rest of the group to stop and look at the Padawan Learner.

“No animals.” Lyna answered. “No birds. No bugs. Nothing is alive here. Nothing but the trees.”

The masters and commandos took a moment to examine the surroundings. There was indeed nothing alive. The Major looked to one of the commandos, “Are we sure there are no pathogens in the atmosphere?”

“The viral sensors didn’t detect anything, Sir? Besides, there doesn’t seem to be any bodies anywhere.”

“This planet has been lost to darkness for a long time.” Master Jarvis stated. “Whatever stripped it of life may no longer be here. In any case, we should be screened as soon as we get back to the cruiser.”

The Major nodded, “I agree. Let’s keep moving.”

After a couple more hours of walking, the pyramid came into sight. It was old and made of stone. Scaling up into the heavens with its many layers that made it resemble a giant staircase, it towered over the forest. Surrounded by fog and illuminated only by the sun's dim, blue lighting. There was something ominous about it.

The Commandos maintained their perimeter around the Jedi as the group stepped off the soft ground of the planet and onto the hard stone of the ancient structure. They moved through the fog and walked up the stairway leading up to the base of the pyramid. The air grew colder with each step towards the entrance. Lyna’s skin began to crawl and her knees began to buckle. There was something about this place, Lyna turned away from the pyramid and had to sit down for a moment.

She tried to compose herself while Master Jarvis took a seat next to her. “Everything alright?”

“I’ll be ok.” Lyna assured her master. “I’m not sure what’s wrong but-”

“You’re afraid.”

“Yes, master.”

“The dark side of the force is strong on this planet.” Jarvis explained. “It bleeds into the air in and around this pyramid. Fear is the only reasonable response to a place such as this. You fear the building, I fear what could be inside of it. But a Jedi can not be controlled by fear, my young padawan.”

“What’s in there?”

“Only what we take with us.”

Lyna nodded and stood up alongside Master Jarvis. “Is it why he came here, Master? The dark side?”

“I don’t know.” Jarvis answered while the two walked up the steps. “This planet is not on any known star chart. This pyramid looks older than the Jedi Order itself. For Marrick to come here, of all places, immediately after falling to the dark. There must be some connection, something more than chance. But those are questions for another day, another mission. Another, less conflicted Jedi.”

Before long, the commandos were stepping onto the main platform at the entrance of the pyramid with the masters right behind them. The commanders kept their blasters pointing forward as the Jedi switched on their lightsabers to provide more illumination. Slowly, they stepped through the open doorway and into the corridors of the structure, filled with statues and etched wall images that nobody recognized. There was a tense silence followed by a stench.

“We’ve got a body!” One of the Commandos reported. “Scratch that, we’ve got bodies. Lots of bodies.”

As they entered what appeared the main hall of the pyramid, through the flashlights attached to the commandos blasters and the glow of the lightsabers, the images of more than a dozen dead bodies came into view. Armored bodies left lying with their weapons at their side. Some of them were in pieces. Lyna had never seen a sight like this before, it churned her stomach.

Master Jende investigated one of the dead while the Commandos kept their guard up. He looked down at the body. A reptilian creature, with grey scales almost as thick as the black armor it wore bearing a long melted slash. “I don’t recognize this species.”

Keeping his blue lightsaber up for light, Master Jende reached down and grabbed the weapon at the creature’s side by its hilt. He examined it as the Republic Major walked over to him. “What is it?”

Jende pressed a button located on the hilt, triggering a plasma blade similar to that of a lightsaber to appear at the end of it. With a red glow, it curved along one side with a stern base at the other. “It’s an ax.”

He switched the weapon off and tossed it back down to the ground. “This one was killed by lightsaber!”

“This one was as well!” One of the other masters shouted back followed quickly by the rest confirming that all the bodies were done in by lightsaber.

“Blakstone?” The Major asked.

“Most likely.” Jende answered.

“Well then, where the hell is he?”

“One of two possibilities.” Jende speculated. “Either he was overwhelmed by this ambush and taken. Or, after overcoming the ambush, he commandeered their ship.”

“How do you know he still isn’t here?”

“Did you detect anything resembling a ship on the way down, Major? Something brought these creatures here and someone flew it out. Given that no one took the time to collect these bodies, I’m going to assume that Marrick defeated his attackers and took their ship so we wouldn’t be able to continue tracking him.”

The Major didn’t disagree with the Jedi’s assessment. “Marrick is a pretty lucky traitor. Stumbling upon this planet the same time as these things. Unless you think that, somehow, they kne-th-....what is he doing?”

Jende turned and saw Jarvis sitting cross legged in the middle of all the bodies. “He’s reaching out to the force. To get a vision of what happened here.”

“You guys can do that?”

“A few of us can." Jende explained. "Radio signals aren’t the only thing that echo, Major. And the force echoes strongly in this place.”

“Careful, Jarvis.” one of the other masters warned as bits of rock began to levitate around Jarvis. “The dark side is strong here.”

Lyna had seen her master do this a few times before. It always amazed her, the ability to connect to Force-Echoes were so rare among the Jedi. She hadn’t even heard of the gift prior to becoming Jarvis’ padawan. She watched as he calmed himself, reached out his hand, and placed it on the ground to see what he would later report to the Jedi Council…

...Jarvis opened his eyes and saw Marrick sitting there. He was alone, still covered in the blood of his fellow knights. Still in shock from his actions. Jarvis couldn’t see much of the surroundings, they were clouded by the dark side of the force. But he did watch as Marrick suddenly became alert. Drawing his green lightsaber as, out of the shadows, the creatures attacked.

Armed with the plasma-axes and spears, the unknown creatures were skilled in combat but Marrick was still fueled with rage and hate. He parried the incoming strikes with ease and quickly began striking down his attackers. The sight of it was shocking to Jarvis, Marrick was always a tough duelist but he had never seen his former padawan strike with such ferocity.

Initially caught off guard by Marrick’s skill, the attackers soon demonstrated a strong ability of fighting against Jedi. They surrounded him and attempted a more coordinated attack. The battle became more even as Marrick finally began to gain some level of control of himself and took a more controlled and defensive posture to deflect the red-plasma weapons, successfully countering whenever he could. But, even while being outnumbered, it didn’t take long for Marrick to obtain a clear advantage. And, one by one, he struck down all of his attackers par from one.

After cutting down the last of the unknown creatures, Marrick turned and soon found his sword connecting, not with one of the plasma-weapons, but another lightsaber. There was a brief pause as Marrick stood in shock and stared at the other warrior while the simmering glow of their green and red lightsabers locked between them. The warrior, clearly skilled with the force, raised his hand and sent Marrick flying across the room. Marrick landed on his feet but his lightsaber was immediately stripped from his hand, flew across the room, and landed into the hand of the other force user.

Jarvis could not see the other warrior, could not make out the words he spoke to Marrick before opening his hand and allowing the lightsaber to float back into his former padawan. The figure then turned and left the pyramid with Marrick choosing to follow….

….Jarvis disconnected from the echo. His breathing was frantic as he processed what he had just witnessed from the force. Lyna watched as her master sat there among the bodies Marrick had left behind. Even then, she could sense his anguish as the reality of what had happened in this pyramid began to set in.

“What did you see?” Master Jende asked from behind.

“It wasn’t an ambush.” Jarvis slowly rose to his feet. “It was a test of strength. It is as we feared. Marrick’s connection to the dark side drew another to him.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t see. It’s hard to see the dark side.”

“By the look of it, these bodies have only been here for about a day.” The Major chimed in. “They may still be in the sector. Maybe we can still catch up.”

“Don’t bother.” Master Jarvis stated softly. “They are long gone now. We were too late...I was too late.”

Without another word, Master Jarvis turned and walked towards the exit. Concerned, Lyna walked over to him. “Master.”

He didn’t respond. He just kept walking straight out of the pyramid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. More to come.


	2. 2 Years Later

_The sky was blood red, as was the ground Lyna stepped on. It was sand. Wet Sand. Sand soaked in blood. Lyna walked up and down the_ blood soaked _sand dunes. The sand began to give way to the wind, revealing the bodies that had been buried beneath them. Lyna soon tripped over one and rolled down into the pile. She shuddered and got back to her knees. She looked forward and saw him, standing amongst the dead. He stood there in front of the red sun, long black hair, waving in the wind, his black clothes covered in blood. His red lightsaber in his hand. Everything was red, stained with blood…._

Lyna awoke from her sleep, sweating and gasping for breath. One of the other Padawans looked at her from the bunk across the room. “Bad Dream.”

“A nightmare.” Lyna answered wiping sweat from her eyebrow.

“You’ve been having a lot of nightmares.” The concerned Padawan stated. “You should speak to Master Jarvis about it.”

“I know.” She knew the other padawan was right. Especially since it wasn’t nightmares she was having, it was a nightmare. Same one almost every night. She had to tell Master Jarvis about it. But Lyna wasn’t sure how to do that. Master Jarvis had changed so much in the two years since the mission. The mission that ended in failure. A failure he clearly saw his own personal one, despite what the other Masters have told him.

After getting out of bed, Lyna showered and prepared herself for another day of training. In addition to getting into her training robes and grabbing her lightsaber, she also needed to retrim her hair. It had grown out a little too much, she had to get it back down. It was the standard for a padawan. Buzzed hair with the single braid down the side. Lyna could remember what it was like before joining the Jedi order, her long brown hair ran down most of her back. She had gotten used to the Padawan look but she did look forward to the day she was knighted and could grow it back out.

Once she was all ready, Lyna left the sleeping hut and strolled through the fields towards the main Jedi Temple. She did like looking up at the sky to see the gas giant of Odo above, the planet this moon orbited around. It was the fourth moon of the planet, simply named Odo-4. It was the home of a prosperous farming colony that supplied crops to Coruscant and now the Republic Army.

Things haven’t improved much since Marrick disappeared beyond the outer rim. General Raynar was still missing though the Republic forces had managed to halt the Mandalorian advance. The fighting seems to have bogged down to a stalemate from what Lyna had heard. There was talk that maybe it could end with a truce but there was concern among the Jedi that the chancellor won’t accept anything less than victory.

Lyna entered the temple and saw Master Jarvis meditating with Master Jende, his lesson would come later. First, Lyna went through sparring practice with some of the other padawans. A good way to wake up in the morning. She grabbed one of the wooden sparring swords and waited her turn.

One of the other padawans, a blue twi’lek girl named Sabrene, walked over to Lyna and pointed . “You think you can beat me today?”

“I will certainly try my best.”

“Nah-ah.” Sabrene, who was 16 like Lyna, teased waving her sword. “Do or do not. There is n-”

“Don’t start with that.” Lyna laughed while swatting down Sabrene’s practice sword. “I will definitely kick your ass.”

“Alright. Watch your language, padawans.” Jedi Master Maya, a black human woman, stated to the class. “And lets get started.”

Maya was one of the most skilled duelists in the Jedi Order as well as Sabrene’s Master. The Republic actually wanted her to serve in the war but the Council had convinced the Chancellor that her skills were better served training dozens of Jedi at a time. This was apparently done at the behest of Maya herself who shared the Council’s initial concerns over wading into the conflict. Despite what her lightsaber skills may tell you, Master Maya was a pacifist. She believed a Jedi should only draw their lightsaber in the defense of themself or the innocent and only after negotiations had failed. She detested the idea of jumping into a battlefield. Such an uncivilized place for a Jedi to be.

“Everyone pair up.” Master Maya instructed. “Younglings, take a seat. Watch and learn.”

The younger padawans yet to receive a Master would watch and observe while the older apprentices would hone their dueling skills. Lyna paired up with Sabrene like she always did. The two had a very competitive drive when it came to the duels they had with each other. They were often evenly matched but Lyna was off today, distracted by the memory of the nightmare that had been haunting her every night. Sabrene was aggressive in her attacks. Lyna tried to defend herself but, with one quick move, Sabrene’s practice sword connected with Lyna’s gut with a thud.

“Lyna!” Master Maya yelled out. “You need to keep your guard up. If this was a real lightsaber battle, you’ll be in pieces right now.”

Lyna strained to get air in after Sabrene’s hard strike. “Yes, master. I’ll work harder, master.”

“Yeah, much harder.” The victorious Sabrene declared.

“Sabrene.” Maya said to her padawan. “You’re still being far too aggressive. If all you do is attack you’ll never be able to defend yourself.”

“But if I attack fast enough, I can end the fight quickly.”

“Ok.” Master Maya extended her hand and called force-pulled a practice sword into her hand. “Then attack me as fast as you can.”

The rest of the class went silent and turned to watch as Sabrene took up position to attack while Master Maya kept her sword flat to her side. Sabrene charged but her attack was quickly parried and countered by Master Maya who moved like lightning, striking her padawan on the back. “Dead. Try again.”

Sabrene did and once again found her master striking her again, this time in the leg. “You’ve lost your leg, padawan.”

Master Maya then turned to the rest of the class. “It does not matter how fast you move or how hard you hit, someone, somewhere will always be faster and harder. That’s why defense and countering are key. Because, in the end, it does not matter who kills the most. Battles are simply won by the one who is the last left alive. Now, back to work.”

The rest of the padawans went back to their sparring while a bruised Sabrene asked. “Does it matter? You know I’ll never be as good as you.”

“Being a Jedi is more than being the best fighter.” Master Maya sternly explained to her apprentice. “Don’t believe me? There is only one Padawan learner who has ever bested me in sparring. And there isn’t a man, woman, or child in the Order who would dare to speak his name now.”

Lyna had heard that story before from Master Jarvis who took great pride in the fact that it was his apprentice that had beaten the legendary swordswoman, Master Maya. He would actually tease her about it from time to time. Master Maya always insisted that Marrick had simply taken her by surprise. But that was a long time ago and, as Maya said, no one spoke of it anymore. So the fact that Maya just did certainly got the point across to Sabrene who promptly apologized to her master and motioned to Lyna that she was ready to return to sparring.

Once the sparring session was over, Lyna moved on to her daily lesson with Master Jarvis. She returned to the main Jedi Temple where Master Jende informed her that he was waiting for her in the forest. Master Jarvis had always appreciated nature, he would often hold his lessons out in the forest. But ever since the mission beyond the outer rim, he had taken to lingering out into the wilderness for hours alone. He didn’t like to be around the other masters, he only meditated in the temple at the insistence of his friend, Master Jende.

Lyna walked through the forest and came across a clearing where large stone figures rested. Ruins of a long dead civilization that neve managed to break free of the moon’s orbit. At the center of the clearing was her master who sensed her presence as she walked up behind him. “You’re early, Lyna.”

“I’m on time.”

“Indeed.” Master Jarvis nodded. “That's 'early' for you. You usually linger with Sabrene but today...something troubles you.”

Lyna was slow to speak but, thankfully, Jarvis was a patient Master. He sat silently while she walked around him. "I've been having a nightmare."

"Just the one?"

"Yes." Lyna sat herself down opposite to her master. By virtue of being a Padawan, Lyna's has changed very little over the past two years other than simply becoming a 16 year old girl. Master Jarvis, on the other hand, was basically a different person. His once neatly trimmed grey beard and hair had grown out and become disheveled. His eyes had become sullen and, while it was well hidden by his robes, there no mistaking that he become less fit.

Jarvis was a shell of his former self, haunted by questions of what had happened to Marrick on that battlefield. Questions of what errors Jarvis had made in his training. Questions that had made him cautious when came to Lyna. He left her to learn fighting with Master Maya. To learn history and language from Master Jende. Delegating as much of her training as he could. There was a silent understanding that once he had fulfilled his commitment to her, Jarvis would retire from the Jedi Order and spend the rest of his days in meditation. But he still tried to listen and teach as best he can. And listened as Lyna as she explained her nightmare to him.

"You could see the lightsaber?" Jarvis asked after processing the details of her dream. "Anything about it that stood out to you? Beyond the red blade. Did you see the hilt."

Lyna wasn't sure why he was asking for details about the lightsaber until she remembered that Jarvis had seen the lightsaber of the warrior he saw in the force-echoes two years. It was the only detail he could make out of whomever came to Marrick in that pyramid. Did he think she saw the same person in her dream? At worst, she assumed it was Marrick himself. Lyna thought hard. "I'm sorry, Master. I didn't get a clear look of the hilt."

"Did you-" Jarvis hesitated. "Was there anything familiar about the figure in the nightmare?'

Lyna was taken back by that question. Was he suggesting that she was possibly seeing a vision of her future. That she was warrior surrounded by bodies. That she could turn like Marrick did. That isn't possible. She would never. Besides, the figure had black hair. Lyna's is brown. "No, I didn't recognize the warrior. Though see anything other than his hair. Marrick has dark hair, doesn't he?"

"Yes." Jarvis answered. "But it wasn't long hair. Though it has been two years."

Jarvis sat there thinking it over. "It was probably just a dream, Lyna."

Lyna was sure it was more than that. And she was sure he felt the same way. "Master Jende has spoken about Jedi having visions from the force. Isn't it possible that's what this is? A vision of death?"

"We are at war." Jarvis explained. "I'm surprised more of us aren't having visions of death. And I'm sure plenty of us are having them, Lyna. It's possible that's all this is. If you keep having this nightmare, I will speak to the other masters about it. For now, you must train. You see the boulder over there."

Lyna turned and saw it. "You want me to do force-levitation, Master? I already know that."

"You are troubled, Padawan. A Jedi must learn to overcome the things that weigh down their mind and focus on the here and now. This nightmare plaguing your thoughts is a good opportunity for you to do just that."

Taking a deep breath, Lyna reached out with the force. It was difficult with the memory of the nightmare fresh in her head, but she was ultimately able to levitate the boulder. After that, she would perform several other force-use exercises with Master Jarvis. After a couple of hours, Jarvis looked at the sky and said. "I think that is enough for today. We will resume tomorrow at the same time."

"Very well, master." Lyna stood up and started to walk back to the Jedi Temple while Master Jarvis remained sitting at the center of the clearing. Hesitant to ask one final question.

"What about the bodies?"

Lyna stopped right at the edge of the trees. "Master?"

She turned and looked to her master who asked again. "What about the bodies? You spoke at length about the figure in black, the red sky, and dunes of blood. But what about the bodies? Were they Commandoes? Civilians? Jedi?"

"I don't know." Lyna answered honestly after thinking hard about it. "I fell right on top of them but I didn't see them."

"Didn't see or didn't look?" Jarvis asked rhetorically. He was clearly unsure about pressing this issue. The questions of what went wrong with Marrick ringing in his head. "If it is a vision, If the force is trying to tell you something, then it is important to take in all the details you can. No matter who unpleasant they may be, you must understand the full context and meaning of it. Understand?"

"Yes, Master."

With that, Luna left. And Jarvis sat there silently...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading. more to come


End file.
